15 crazy space tech ideas that NASA is actually working on

5/21/2015

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NASA has financed 15 aspiring tech ideas in the
hopes that one or more of them may have a vast effect on space science or
exploration down the road. The new concepts funded by the NASA
Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program comprise a squid-like
amphibious rover that might search icy, ocean-harboring moons for example the
Jupiter satellite Europa; a suggestion to mine water from asteroids by means of
intense sunlight; and "WindBots" that would voyage through the skies
of Jupiter and Saturn, generating energy from the gas giants' magnetic fields
and intense winds. Another idea pursues to develop small, inexpensive
"crawler," "hopper" and ball-like robots that would work
together to hunt water and other unstable materials in permanently shadowed
craters close to the poles of the moon. Retrieving these volatiles could be
significant to establishing a human existence on the moon, many scientists say.

The 15 concepts were selected under Phase 1 of the
NIAC platform. The study teams will each get about $100,000 to accomplish early
analyses; they can then apply for a Phase 2 prize, which is means an additional
$500,000 and funds two more years of progress.